Whose bright idea was it to to merge the maters and PhD threads?

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edieb

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I am sorry but social work and counseling are NOT psychology. I don't see anybody merging the Nurse Practitioner and MD/DO threads. ridiculous
 
I agree as well. Are there any alternatives to this new arrangement? I'm not completely clear on what necessitated the change...
 
Again, I repeat why merge the master's and doctoral threads for professions that are not even the same, especially in light of the fact other professions still have discrete masters and doctoral threads (e.g., NP and MD/DO)???
 
edieb said:
Again, I repeat why merge the master's and doctoral threads for professions that are not even the same, especially in light of the fact other professions still have discrete masters and doctoral threads (e.g., NP and MD/DO)???
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Can we actually vote on this one?

I think it's very confusing and inefficient to find what you need as a prospective applicant when PsyD, PhD, MSW, MA, and BA are all merged into one.
 
phd12 said:
can we actually vote on this one?

I think it's very confusing and inefficient to find what you need as a prospective applicant when psyd, phd, msw, ma, and ba are all merged into one.
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+1
 
On the main page that lists all the separate threads in the Psychology forum, there is a link to e-mail/message the administrator at the top. It says his/her name is "Lee." I urge everyone to message this person their concerns
 
Hi all,

Thank you for your feedback. The staff is aware of your concerns and is taking them into consideration. If you would like to PM your personal thoughts on the matter, please send them to one of the psychology moderators (me or AcronymAllergy), and we will share them with the other staff members, including Lee.

Also, I'd just like to note that such feedback would have been welcome in the announcement thread about the merger that was posted last week. That thread was left open to allow for user feedback, and indeed, your feedback on the planned merge would have been particularly helpful to us at that time. Additionally, you are free to send questions, suggestions, or concerns about the forums to the mods at any time Although we can't promise to implement every suggestion, the staff really does welcome and consider your feedback. 🙂

Thanks,

futureapppsy2
 
This is awful... the masters forums were pretty dead, is that why they did this?
 
Yeah I really dislike the change also. Like, enough to eventually stop using this forum if it doesnt change,
 
^^^ I concur; I dislike the change. (Never thought I'd be on the 'traditional' anti-progressive side of an argument)

How can we expect the public and employers to understand (and appreciate) the differences between an LCSW, LPC, & PhD/PsyD's if our own forums don't seem to understand the difference?
 
briarcliff said:
^^^ I concur; I dislike the change. (Never thought I'd be on the 'traditional' anti-progressive side of an argument)

How can we expect the public and employers to understand (and appreciate) the differences between an LCSW, LPC, & PhD/PsyD's if our own forums don't seem to understand the difference?
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1. They forgot A.A. and Certificate programs.

2. With the MSW and Family programs lumped in bc they do "psych/therapy stuff." This is akin to throwing physicians, physician assistants, chiropractors, nurses, DNPs, podiatrists, etc all in one group bc they do "medical stuff."
 
Therapist4Chnge said:
1. They forgot A.A. and Certificate programs.

2. With the MSW and Family programs lumped in bc they do "psych/therapy stuff." This is akin to throwing physicians, physician assistants, chiropractors, nurses, DNPs, podiatrists, etc all in one group bc they do "medical stuff."
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Yup, it definitely mimics the problems with the greater mental health field. Part of why I liked SDN was because I could go to a forum and talk specifically about doctoral psychology program issues. It appears that is not longer the case - will have to filter out entirely different disciplines and entirely different degree levels (even BA/BS students). Might have to vote with my feet here as well.
 
Again, what was the rationale for this and why wasn't this type of merger done to other threads?
 
edieb said:
Again, what was the rationale for this and why wasn't this type of merger done to other threads?
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I emailed Lee explaining that all the main contributors to the doctoral forum are unhappy with the merger and why.
 
why has this happened? it is wrong on so many levels...
 
futureapppsy2 said:
Hi all,

You may have noticed our recent implementation of thread prefixes (MA/MS, MSW, and PhD/PsyD) that you can put alongside your thread titles. After discussion and review of forum activity, we've decided to merge the doctoral-level and masters-level forums into one. When this happens, you can tag your thread with the relevant prefix to make it clear what type of degree you are posting about. Among other things, we feel this merger will make it easier for people who are pursuing terminal masters degrees but have doctoral aspirations and those who are deciding between masters and doctoral routes.

Please let the mods know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

futueapppsy2 and AcronymAllergy
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I don't really think the rationale is sufficient at all. Who cares if they need to go to two different forums for masters and doctoral topics? They'd get a better flavor for the differences that way rather than just combining all of them into one forum and contributing to the watering down of the mental health care system (conceptually). Also will confuse people as to the differences between what "psychology" is and what completely different disciplines are.
 
Jon Snow said:
Have to agree. It trivializes psychology. In fact , given this is a student doc forum , I'd advocate for removing the non doctoral stuff from the site.
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I agree for these reasons. I'm in support of returning to the way it was. To the mods, when I first read about the change, I didn't know it was an option to dispute the merger.
 
Pragma said:
I don't really think the rationale is sufficient at all. Who cares if they need to go to two different forums for masters and doctoral topics? They'd get a better flavor for the differences that way rather than just combining all of them into one forum and contributing to the watering down of the mental health care system (conceptually). Also will confuse people as to the differences between what "psychology" is and what completely different disciplines are.
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This. There are regular posts on the PhD/PsyD boards about the differences between practicing at the Master's vs. Doctoral level; the public perception of the difference between Master's & Doctoral level practitioners is eroding (cf. the multitude of posts about scope creep on the-board-formerly-known-as-the-PhD/PsyD-board); to coin Shakespeare, this merger is very much Et tu, StudentDoctor? (Heck, I'm not even in one of the license-able subdisciplines, and I understand this much.)

CheetahGirl said:
.....To the mods, when I first read about the change, I didn't know it was an option to dispute the merger.
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And this. The wording from the original notice tells us we can e-mail with questions. It says nothing about welcoming feedback. Actually, it says nothing about feedback at all...

Jon Snow said:
Have to agree. It trivializes psychology. In fact , given this is a student doc forum , I'd advicate for removing the non doctoral stuff from the site.
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(With all due respect to JS) I disagree with this, however; for those of who were not fortunate to get into PhD programs the first time we applied and went into Master's programs instead, it's nice to have.... something.
 
I understand merging degrees in Psychology- PhD, PsyD, even terminal MA/MS in Psychology- but what is MSW doing in there?
 
AcronymAllergy said:
Please note that the concerns expressed have been heard, and that steps are being taken to un-merge the forums rather than to go the route of a combined "Psychology and Pre-Psychology" forum.
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The whole thread label thing might be useful within the doctoral forum...I feel like nonclinical subdisciplines get shafted a lot. Psychology is so broad and it would be nice to reinforce the fact that there are distinct subdisciplines to such a broad audience. The merger was also working against all nonclinical psychologists.
 
(With all due respect to JS) I disagree with this, however; for those of who were not fortunate to get into PhD programs the first time we applied and went into Master's programs instead, it's nice to have.... something.
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This was actually one of the primary reasons behind the decision to merge the forums--most of the masters level posters expressed the desire to get a PhD/PsyD after their masters. We have few terminal masters folks on this forum. So, the masters questions were more "pre-psychology" than anything else.

As AA said, we're be splitting the forums back to how they were, thanks to your feedback. Again, we can't respond to feedback unless we receive it, so in the future, *please* be sure to read mod announcements and provide feedback, either in thread or via PM.

Also, I'd like to note the other reason behind the merger of the forums had to do with consistently low level of activity on the masters forums and was *not* in any way an attempt to conflate masters degrees and PhDs. AcronymAllergy has a PhD, and I am currently enrolled in a PhD program, so we are both very much aware of the differences between doctoral and masters degrees and as well as the difference between psychology, counseling, social work, etc. The reasons for the merger were administrative in nature, not philosophical or political.
 
futureapppsy2 said:
As AA said, we're be splitting the forums back to how they were, thanks to your feedback. Again, we can't respond to feedback unless we receive it, so in the future, *please* be sure to read mod announcements and provide feedback, either in thread or via PM.[/B]
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I Appreciate the positive and quick response!

Imagine how much we would get done if we were all running the APA instead of the ineffective leadership we have now?
 
futureapppsy2 said:
This was actually one of the primary reasons behind the decision to merge the forums--most of the masters level posters expressed the desire to get a PhD/PsyD after their masters. We have few terminal masters folks on this forum. So, the masters questions were more "pre-psychology" than anything else.

As AA said, we're be splitting the forums back to how they were, thanks to your feedback. Again, we can't respond to feedback unless we receive it, so in the future, *please* be sure to read mod announcements and provide feedback, either in thread or via PM.

Also, I'd like to note the other reason behind the merger of the forums had to do with consistently low level of activity on the masters forums and was *not* in any way an attempt to conflate masters degrees and PhDs. AcronymAllergy has a PhD, and I am currently enrolled in a PhD program, so we are both very much aware of the differences between doctoral and masters degrees and as well as the difference between psychology, counseling, social work, etc. The reasons for the merger were administrative in nature, not philosophical or political.
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Thank you!
 
PHD12 said:
I Appreciate the positive and quick response!

Imagine how much we would get done if we were all running the APA instead of the ineffective leadership we have now?
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Hahaha, yes.

Thanks to the mods and forum staff for listening to our concerns and responding to them!
 
Yes, thanks! It's nice (and rare) to have leadership that responds quickly to feedback.
 
Much Thanks, Mods and Staff😉

Now, without the unnecessary distraction of the subfields, some of us can peacefully go back to defending psychodynamics while practicing as cognitive-behavioral therapists. (Ha! You never really know what's being conceptualized in the mind of 'the therapist.')😎
 
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